


Operation: GFSTBMS

by third



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Canon Compliant, Humor, M/M, Plans, Yukhei Tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 06:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15090893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/third/pseuds/third
Summary: “I don't understand,” Kun says, finally looking up from his phone. “Why don't you just talk to him?”Yukhei smushes his face onto his pillow. “I’mtrying.”Or: Yukhei keeps trying to talk to Donghyuck. It doesn't work out as planned.





	Operation: GFSTBMS

Yukhei can count on one hand the number of times that someone hasn’t liked him. It’s his _thing_. His passion is in people—he likes making people laugh, he likes making people happy, and if they end up liking him too, well, that’s just a plus.

(Kun calls it an insecurity, to make up for _other_ things that Yukhei is lacking, but most of the time Yukhei ignores what Kun says anyway.)

The thing is, Yukhei isn’t really used to people not liking him. So when Yukhei finally _debuts_ as part of NCT and Donghyuck still hasn’t warmed up to him, Yukhei deems it an Official Problem.

“I don't understand,” Kun says, finally looking up from his phone to where Yukhei has plopped himself on Kun’s bed in defeat. “Why don't you just talk to him?”

Yukhei smushes his face onto his pillow. “I’m _trying_.”

“No,” Kun says, “you’re not. You just stare longingly at Donghyuck whenever he’s in your line of sight.”

“Talking is _hard_ ,” Yukhei whines. It’s a wonder that Kun can even understand what Yukhei is saying—his face is pretty deep into the pillow, words coming out as vague mumbles.

“You were able to charm everyone when you couldn’t even _speak_ the same language as them. Why is it so different with Donghyuck?”

Yukhei considers this. The first time that Yukhei had met Donghyuck, Donghyuck had looked at him and smiled, and despite practising his greetings, Yukhei had been unable to speak. He’d stared at Donghyuck for too long to be natural before stuttering through a hello. Donghyuck had still smiled at him after, albeit a bit less enthusiastic, and Yukhei had felt like he’d been blinded by the sun. When he’d heard that Donghyuck had been given the stage name, Haechan, he couldn’t help but think of it as fitting. Every encounter after that was increasingly worse, Yukhei getting tongue-tied each time, that eventually, it was hard for Yukhei to dig himself out of the hole he’d dug himself into.

“Donghyuck—” Yukhei starts, then sighs. Kun looks at him expectantly. “Donghyuck is out of my league.”

Kun stares at him in disbelief. “I don’t want to hear you wax poetry about Donghyuck’s smile again. Get out of my room,” Kun says with such vitriol that Yukhei listens to him without thinking.

It’s only when Yukhei is out sitting in the dorm’s living room does he realise that it was his room too. 

 

 

Yukhei starts ‘Operation: Get Full Sun to be My Sun’ after two weeks of awkward meetings and dance practices. He had recruited Kun and Jungwoo to help in his plans after Taeyong had gone up to Yukhei and said, with the level of concern only a leader can show, “What is even going on between you two?”

(Both Kun and Jungwoo had heard the title of the plan and promptly backed out. No convincing on Yukhei’s part could get them to reconsider but there was also no way he was changing the operation name. It’s a good name. It was only after they had to suffer through an awkward car ride with both Yukhei and Donghyuck that they agreed to take part again.)

“Let’s start small,” Jungwoo says, from where he’s sitting cross-legged across the table from Yukhei. Kun is sitting by Yukhei’s side, opening the chicken delivery that Yukhei had to pay for before they cleared their Friday night for him. Like they always say, good friends are ones you can bribe. Or maybe it’s just Yukhei’s friends.

Yukhei is already thinking of asking Mark for Donghyuck’s favourite flower so he can fill Donghyuck’s dorm room with it when Kun nudges Yukhei’s thigh with his toe. “I don’t trust that look on your face,” Kun says, a half-eaten piece of chicken pinched between his fingers. “Whatever you were thinking, I’m voting no to it.”

“You don’t even know what it is!” Yukhei shouts. He looks at Jungwoo for support but Jungwoo shakes his head, cleanly finishing off his chicken wing and adding it to his pile of bones. Yukhei looks at the box and notices that it’s already half empty. Jungwoo has already gone through his fifth piece of chicken; Yukhei hasn’t even eaten one. He grabs two in each hand and starts eating, ignoring Kun’s judgemental stare. “Fine,” Yukhei says, mouth half full of chicken. “Define small.”

Jungwoo hums. “How about you offer Donghyuck a bottle of water during practice?”

Yukhei makes a face. “Isn’t that boring?”

“There’s a part of me that’s doubting whether you can pull off something this simple, Xuxi,” Kun says. 

“I think it could work,” Jungwoo continues. “Give Donghyuck a bottle of water and then comment about the choreography. That’s simple.”

Yukhei still has his doubts, but he’s grasping at straws at the moment. “Fine,” Yukhei says. “I’ll try it.”

He pours out the bottle of Cola into three cups and passes it to Jungwoo and Kun.

“To Phase 1 of ‘Operation: Get Full Sun to be My Sun’,” Yukhei cheers, lifting up his cup. He looks at Jungwoo and Kun expectantly but is met with unimpressed stares. “Don’t leave me hanging,” he whines.

He gets the most unenthusiastic cheers in response, but Yukhei will take what he can get. He’s in the middle of downing his cup of Cola when he hears the sound of one of the bedroom doors opening. 

All three of them freeze at the sound of footsteps padding across the floor. Yukhei had thought that the dorm was empty—Ten had gone off to annoy the members at Dream’s dorm—but apparently, he was wrong. There’s the sound of a toilet flushing and then more footsteps.

Mark awkwardly pops his head into the room. “Hi guys,” Mark says sheepishly, and that’s when Yukhei knows that Mark heard every word they said. “I couldn’t find a good time to walk into this conversation,” Mark continues. “I was going to pretend I wasn’t here but then I really needed to pee.”

“Why are you here anyway?” Jungwoo asks, tilting his head in curiosity. 

“The other dorms were too loud, so I snuck in here for a nap,” Mark admits. “But hey, if you need another person in your plan I’d be happy to help.”

Yukhei beams. Mark is basically Donghyuck’s favourite person… probably? Yukhei gets confused sometimes. But anyway, this could work out well. 

Yukhei offers the last piece of chicken to Mark and that finalises Mark’s initiation into ‘Operation: Get Full Sun to be My Sun’. 

(“Is it really called ‘Operation: Get Full Sun to be My Sun’?” Mark asks after Yukhei brings him up to date. When Yukhei nods, Mark pulls a face.

“You ate the chicken!” Yukhei shouts before Mark can say anything else. “You can’t back out now!”)

 

 

The thing is, Jungwoo’s plan really was simple. There were very few places for Yukhei to mess up. That’s why Yukhei is shocked himself when he’s standing in the middle of the practice room with a half-drenched Donghyuck staring at him with wide eyes.

“I’m _so_ sorry,” Yukhei says, and it’s the most eloquent he’s ever been in front of Donghyuck. Too bad that the circumstances aren’t the greatest. Yukhei doesn’t know what to do with his hands, and Donghyuck hasn’t moved since Yukhei accidentally splashed him with half the bottle of water, so Yukhei pulls on the sleeve of his jumper and uses the end of it to pat some water droplets off of Donghyuck’s face. 

Donghyuck glares at him. Yukhei awkwardly retreats his hand.

Mark, bless his soul, takes pity on Yukhei and runs up to the two of them. “I have a spare shirt,” Mark says, tugging at Donghyuck and leading him away. Mark pats Yukhei’s shoulder in comfort. Yukhei reads it as _you tried bro, better luck next time_ but it very well could’ve been _you fucked up big time, man_. Yukhei is intensely aware that Donghyuck still hasn’t said anything at all.

Yukhei watches Mark and Donghyuck until the door shuts behind them. When Yukhei finally looks around the room, all eyes are staring at him. 

“What was that?” Kun says when Yukhei ambles towards where he and Jungwoo are sitting. 

“I don’t know,” Yukhei says, collapsing onto the floor next to Jungwoo. Yukhei stares at the floor, not wanting to see the expression on their faces. Yukhei feels someone patting his head. It’s probably Jungwoo.

“No, really,” Kun continues. “I looked away for like 2 seconds and suddenly Donghyuck was soaked and you had that pinched look in your eyes that you usually do when you panic. How did that happen?”

“All I saw was Yukhei’s hand jerk in the middle of their conversation and Donghyuck’s face covered in water,” Jungwoo contributes. Jungwoo’s hands are still stroking through Yukhei’s hair. It’s comforting but it doesn’t cover the embarrassment that Yukhei feels burning through his chest.

Yukhei puts his face into his hands. He really does feel a bit mortified, so he muffles his next words into his hands.

“What was that?” Jungwoo says, leaning in closer. 

Yukhei’s too embarrassed to say it again, but Kun seems to understand by the way the sound of a snicker reaches Yukhei’s ear.

Jungwoo still looks confused though, so Yukhei says, as fast as he can, “He smiled and I got flustered so my hand spasmed.”

As he says it, the moment replays in his mind like its taunting him: Yukhei walking up to Donghyuck with a water bottle in hand. Yukhei even unscrewing the lid for Donghyuck to make it a complete gesture of kindness. Donghyuck realising that Yukhei is giving him a bottle of water and smiling at Yukhei. The rest replays in slow motion: Yukhei’s hand acting of its own accord, squeezing the bottle tight until it splashes all over Donghyuck’s face and shirt. Donghyuck’s smile dropping off of his face, and a sense of dread filling Yukhei’s entire body.

Yukhei feels the mortification all over again. 

“Ah,” Jungwoo says. Yukhei can hear amusement in Jungwoo’s voice. Why are his friends like this? Why do they thrive off his pain? “Don’t worry,” Jungwoo continues. “There’s always next time.”

 

 

Next time comes in the form of a team dinner to celebrate the drop of _NCT 2018 Empathy_. 

Kun somehow orchestrates the table so that Yukhei is seated next to Donghyuck. As Mark passes by Yukhei, he whispers a small _you got this, man_ into Yukhei’s ear before sitting down. From the other end of the table, Kun gives Yukhei a small thumbs up. Sitting across Yukhei, Jungwoo mouths _fighting haeyadwae_. Sometimes, Yukhei’s friends _are_ supportive. It’s times like these when he’s glad to have them.

Donghyuck glances at Yukhei warily as Yukhei sits down, before giving him a small smile. After the water bottle incident, Yukhei hasn’t spoken to Donghyuck (not like he usually does anyway), but Mark had told Yukhei that Donghyuck wasn’t mad. It’s still nice to see that what Mark said was true, so Yukhei gives a small smile back. Or at least he hopes it was a small smile. Judging by the way that Jungwoo shakes his head when Yukhei looks over, it probably wasn’t.

Donghyuck turns to Renjun after that, and Yukhei’s fine with that. He’s prepared this time. He psyched himself up after Kun told him about the plan, and thought about any and all possibilities where Yukhei could mess up. Yukhei keeps his glass of water on the side where Ten’s sitting next to him in case he accidentally spills it. Yukhei’d purposely worn a short sleeve shirt so he didn’t have to worry about reaching over and getting his clothes in any of the food. He’d even eaten a bit beforehand so that there wouldn’t be any awkward moments where his stomach would growl at an inopportune time.

Yukhei is prepared. He isn’t going to fuck this plan up like the last one. 

What Yukhei didn’t prepare for, however, is to be traumatised by his last encounter with Donghyuck and be completely unable to eat. 

When the food arrives, it smells delicious. Yukhei’s mouth waters as the server places the shared hot pot right in front of Yukhei. 

The other members reach out and put some food on their plates, but Yukhei is suddenly struck with an intense fear that something bad is going to happen. So he keeps his hands by the side of his plate and turns towards where Ten is talking to Taeyong about the choreography for _Baby Don’t Stop_. Yukhei pretends to be absorbed in their conversation and tries to forget about the hot pot full of yummy meat and vegetables right in front of him.

When Yukhei’s finally accepting his fate that he probably won’t be able to eat tonight, Donghyuck’s hand touches Yukhei’s. Yukhei thinks Donghyuck must’ve accidentally brushed against him, so he continues to look at Ten and Taeyong but when it happens again, Yukhei turns to Donghyuck startled. 

“Are you okay?” Donghyuck asks, brows furrowed in concern. “The food’s nearly finished and you haven’t eaten since you sat down.”

A warmth fills Yukhei’s chest. Donghyuck noticed he wasn’t eating! Donghyuck showed concern! Yukhei levelled up!

“I’m fine,” Yukhei says, and it even comes out at a normal volume. Progress! Wow, Yukhei thinks, tonight is going pretty well. It must be his hunger finally taking over his body, because Yukhei is also able to clearly say, “I was just really interested in their conversation. I’ll eat now!”

It may have been a bit over enthusiastic but Yukhei doesn’t care. The anxiety of eating has gone away now with Donghyuck’s encouragement and Yukhei quickly shovels some food onto his plate.

Yukhei may have overshot though because, with Donghyuck’s gaze on him, he forgets to chew and ends up choking on a mushroom.

Yukhei can feel his face turning red as he coughs frantically. Ten notices straight away and grabs Yukhei’s glass of water and tries to pour it down his throat. Donghyuck awkwardly pats Yukhei’s back as the food finally goes down the right tube. 

“Sorry,” Yukhei says when he can finally speak again. Donghyuck just smiles back. He pats Yukhei on the back once more, before returning to his conversation with Renjun.

Yukhei spends the rest of the dinner focusing on his food. The good old chew and swallow that Yukhei somehow forgot about under Donghyuck’s attention becomes his mantra. Chew and swallow, Yukhei. Chew and swallow. 

 

 

After dinner, before the group splits and heads in different directions to their dorms, Mark runs and catches up to where Yukhei, Kun, and Jungwoo are waiting for Ten to come back from the restroom. 

“I know today wasn’t a success,” Mark says, clapping Yukhei on the arm, “but don’t give up hope.”

Yukhei’s eyes glaze over at the memory of Donghyuck patting his back as Yukhei choked. “He touched my back,” Yukhei says, wistfully. “He noticed I wasn’t eating and smiled at me,” Yukhei sighs.

Mark looks at Kun and Jungwoo confused.

“He does that sometimes,” Kun says, looking unimpressed. “When he thinks about Donghyuck, sometimes he gets this glean over his eyes.”

Jungwoo nods. “The last time he was like this, he spent half an hour talking about how beautiful Donghyuck’s voice is.”

“Wait,” Mark drawls, trying to absorb this information. “Let me just confirm something. Are we trying to get Yukhei and Donghyuck to be friends or get them together?”

Yukhei only really catches the tail end of the conversation, but he says ‘friends’ right as Kun and Jungwoo say ‘together’.

Yukhei stares at them. “What?”

Kun and Jungwoo share a look before they turn to Mark and share the same look. Suddenly, they all nod. Yukhei isn’t sure whether he should be worried.

“I guess we were confused,” Jungwoo says, turning back to Yukhei. There’s something about Jungwoo’s tone of voice that doesn’t ring sincere.

He’s about to ask about it when their conversation is interrupted. “Mark-hyung,” Donghyuck calls out. “The car’s going to leave without you.”

Mark says goodbye and then runs to where Donghyuck is waiting for him. Yukhei manages to catch Donghyuck’s eye and Donghyuck gives him a small wave. Yukhei waves back but after Donghyuck looks away, Yukhei can’t help but lift his hand to his mouth and laugh. It definitely isn’t a giggle.

“Yes,” Kun says, a bit dryly. “You really do just want to be friends with Donghyuck.”

 

 

A couple of days later, Mark comes up with an idea of his own.

“Maybe we should tone it down completely,” Mark says, voice tinny through the speaker of Yukhei’s phone. Kun and Jungwoo squish in closer to Yukhei trying to hear, the three of them sitting on Kun’s bed.

(When Yukhei first saw Mark’s name on his phone, he had called out to Kun and Jungwoo to come to his room. They were watching a movie with Ten, who whined and followed when both Kun and Jungwoo left him. “Why do you guys always leave me out?”

“It’s top secret business,” Yukhei said, ushering Kun and Jungwoo through the door.

Ten scowled. “If this is about your crush on Donghyuck, I already know about it.”

“It’s not a crush!” Yukhei shouted. When Ten stared at him blank-faced, Yukhei changed tactic. “Just for that, you don’t get to come in.”

He shut the door in Ten’s face, but not before he heard Ten say, “Just you watch, Wong Xuxi. I’ll get you back for this.”)

“What do you mean?” Kun asks, pressing his face uncomfortably close to Yukhei’s.

“Like, we tell Yukhei exactly what to say,” Mark says. Yukhei makes a noise of discontent. “Hear me out. I’m headed to the salon tomorrow to get my hair dyed and I know Donghyuck’s coming with me. We’ll get Yukhei to be the first person Donghyuck sees after and Yukhei will give Donghyuck a compliment.”

“Judging from how much Yukhei talks about Donghyuck, I think he can do this,” Jungwoo says. 

“Maybe,” Kun tacks on. 

“It’ll be simple,” Mark says, with maybe a little too much faith in Yukhei. “No props, no extras. Just Yukhei and Donghyuck.”

 

 

‘Just Yukhei and Donghyuck’ is good in theory.

In practice, ‘Just Yukhei and Donghyuck’ is a set up for failure.

What happens is this: Yukhei waits in the van outside of the hair salon. He had somehow convinced their manager to let him tag along in picking up Donghyuck and Mark with an excuse about wanting to get some fresh air. Yukhei doesn’t think the excuse worked, judging by the way his manager’s face fell into what Yukhei thinks is pity the moment Yukhei mentioned Donghyuck’s name. Still, Yukhei managed to tag along, so that was still a success, right? Yukhei wonders whether he’s really that obvious about wanting to be Donghyuck’s friend. (Answer: Yes.)

“They’re taking really long,” Ten says from where he’s sitting in the backseat. For a reason unbeknownst to Yukhei, Ten wanted to tag along too. 

“If you were going to complain,” Yukhei says, turning in his seat to look at Ten, “why did you come along in the first place?”

Ten shrugs. “No reason in particular.” 

Yukhei narrows his eyes at Ten. There’s something there he distrusts. Yukhei wonders why all his friends seem to be hiding something from him. The door to the van opens, however, so the thought is lost in the back of his mind.

Donghyuck freezes when he sees Yukhei sitting in the van. He seems to realise that he’s currently half hanging out of the door, so he shuffles in and takes the seat in the middle row too, right next to Yukhei. Yukhei beams.

“Hi,” Donghyuck says, turning to greet Ten too. He turns back to Yukhei. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Uh,” Yukhei mumbles, distracted by Donghyuck’s new look, “wanted to get out of the dorm for a bit.”

“I get that sometimes,” Donghyuck agrees.

Yukhei knows he should say something in reply but even though Mark _told_ Yukhei exactly what was going to be done to Donghyuck’s hair, it doesn’t mean it’s the same as seeing the real thing. Light brown hair looks good on Donghyuck—it brings out his best features and makes him look softer. Yukhei doesn’t know how any person can look this good. 

Donghyuck shuffles a bit awkwardly, and Yukhei realises then that he’d been staring. He thinks he hears Ten hide a snicker. Donghyuck pulls at a strand of hair, and Yukhei is definitely not staring at Donghyuck’s fingers. 

“You’re staring,” Donghyuck states. “Does it look weird?”

Yukhei immediately shakes his head. “No,” Yukhei replies. He recites the exact words that Mark told him to say: “You look good.”

Donghyuck ducks his head. “Ah thanks,” he says, looking up at Yukhei. He looks adorable shy. “I wasn’t really sure about the colour but if you like it then that’s good. I think I like it more than the orange.”

Mark had too much faith in Yukhei to not prepare him for further comments. “Yeah,” Yukhei says, and then blurts the first thing on his mind, “it looks a lot less carrot-like.”

Yukhei wants to jump through the car’s window.

Donghyuck’s smile drops. “Um,” Donghyuck says, not meeting Yukhei’s eyes. “Thanks.”

He turns away from Yukhei and starts fiddling with his phone. Yukhei slams his head back against the headrest and closes his eyes. Carrot-like. _Carrot-like_. Sometimes, Yukhei can’t even believe himself. 

This time, Ten definitely does snicker.

 

 

The car ride is silent all the way to the SM Building. 

Mark had entered the passenger seat all chirpy, but once he met Yukhei’s eyes and noticed the tension in the car, he just sat in his seat in silence. Yukhei feels the disappointment radiating off him in waves. _Sorry_ , Yukhei tries to convey with his eyes, when he meets Mark’s through the car sun visor mirror. 

Donghyuck and Mark get out at SM for a vocal training, while Yukhei and Ten stay to get driven back to the dorm. Donghyuck doesn’t meet him in the eyes as he says goodbye, shutting the door swiftly behind him. Through the window, Yukhei sees Mark put an arm around Donghyuck’s shoulder as they walk towards the entrance.

“Carrot-like?” Yukhei cries out loud when he can no longer see them. “ _Carrot-like?_ Why am I allowed to talk?”

He leans down and puts his face into his hands. He wants to scream.

Ten, who had been sitting quietly in the back, speaks up, “Sometimes I’m not too sure either.”

Yukhei had forgotten Ten was in the car and startles at the sound. He turns back to look at Ten and is met with the lens of Ten’s phone camera. “Are you recording this?” Yukhei shouts.

“Yep,” Ten says, nonchalantly. “This is my revenge, Wong Xuxi. You’ll never forget this moment.”

Yukhei thinks he would never be able to anyway.

 

 

Ten’s video gets shared around all the members except for Donghyuck.

Yukhei knows because Ten had created a new group chat titled ‘Yukhei’s failed love life’ with everyone besides Donghyuck, added Yukhei to it, and then sent the video with no caption.

The messages from the other members ranged from kind (Jungwoo, Taeil) to pitiful (Kun, Mark, Taeyong) to plain teasing (nearly everyone else). Taeyong had messaged Yukhei individually, a rehash of what he’d told Yukhei a few weeks ago, albeit with poor spelling and more emojis: _what is even going on btwn u 2? ΣΣ(ﾟДﾟ;)_

To say that Yukhei is a bit disheartened would be an understatement. It only gets worse when Yukhei’s visiting 127’s dorm and stumbles across Mark and Donghyuck’s conversation about him. He’s in the middle of grabbing more snacks from the kitchen, after eating through all of Taeyong’s while he was complaining about all his failures, when the sound of his name stops him.

Usually, Yukhei would enter the kitchen despite people talking about him, but it’s _Donghyuck’s_ voice that’s saying his name. That’s enough to make him stop and listen, despite himself.

“I don’t think Yukhei-hyung likes me,” Donghyuck says. Yukhei usually likes the sound of his name from Donghyuck’s lips, but not in this context.

“What?” Mark says, sounding confused. “Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know.” A pause. “He never talks to me unless I initiate and he never looks me in the eyes. I ignored the fact he sprayed water in my face and I thought things were getting better after the dinner but—I don’t know. He only acts this way to me.” Another pause. “And he said I looked like a carrot.”

Yukhei cringes.

“What?” Mark says, and Yukhei recognises his voice as the one he uses when he’s trying not to laugh. “I don’t think he dislikes you, Donghyuck.”

Yukhei turns back to Taeyong’s room after that, not wanting to hear more.

“Where are the snacks?” Taeyong asks when Yukhei re-enters the room. Yukhei doesn’t answer him, instead heading straight to where Taeyong’s sitting on the bed and resting his head on Taeyong’s lap. Fingers stroke through his hair, and it’s a small comfort.

“Maybe I should give up,” Yukhei says. 

Taeyong just hums and continues stroking Yukhei’s hair. 

 

 

Yukhei’s resolve to give up solidifies the more Yukhei thinks about it. He didn’t set out to bother Donghyuck but it sounds like that’s all he’s been doing. 

When he gets back to the dorm, Kun, Ten and Jungwoo are all gathered in the living room. It seems as good a place to announce it as any.

“Everyone,” Yukhei says, and all eyes turn to him. “‘Operation: Get Full Sun to be My Sun’ is officially over.”

“Oh thank god,” Jungwoo says. “Are we changing the name?”

“What?” Yukhei splutters. “No, we’re not changing it. It’s a good name! But no, I meant the plan is over. I give up.”

Kun shuffles over and pats the spot on the couch next to him. Yukhei immediately stumbles over and rests his head on Kun’s shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?” Kun asks.

“No,” Yukhei sniffs. “Sometimes friendships just aren’t supposed to be.”

Ten places his hand on Yukhei’s from where he’s sitting on the ground and squeezes it. “Want to eat some ice cream and watch our music video?”

“Yes,” Yukhei sniffs. Jungwoo gets up to grab the ice cream they smuggled into the dorm and hands Yukhei a spoon.

They spend the rest of the evening watching YouTube videos and the tightness in Yukhei’s chest dulls down slowly. Maybe some friendships really aren’t supposed to be. Some personalities don’t match and Yukhei just has to get used to it.

 

 

Over the next few weeks, Yukhei doesn’t go out of his way to talk to Donghyuck.

Yukhei really doesn’t, which is why he’s not sure if it’s his mind playing tricks on him when he ends up interacting more with Donghyuck anyway.

During their Busan High Touch event, Donghyuck searches for him when they’re taking photos. Yukhei’s still a bit nervous during these events—he’s just debuted, and standing alongside the other members with so much more experience just heightens the fact that he doesn’t want to mess up. Donghyuck seems to notice because he takes Yukhei’s hand and tells him, “Don’t think too hard. You’re doing well.” 

It’s a small gesture, but it’s enough to settle the flutters in Yukhei’s stomach. 

During Show Champion, Yukhei gets caught up in his excitement of performing in front of the fans again, and cheers loudly at the end of their interview, “NCT, we can do it!” 

Sometimes Yukhei realises that his enthusiasm is a bit excessive. He thinks this might be one of the times and expects no reaction, but he hears Donghyuck following right behind him, cheering along with him. Yukhei’s heart warms a little, and he smiles wider at the fans when he sees them.

Backstage during the NCT Fan Event, after Donghyuck had gone through the entire line of NCT members and did his handshakes with them, Donghyuck finds Yukhei. “We should make a handshake together,” Donghyuck says, smiling. Yukhei smiles back and agrees, feeling touched by Donghyuck’s gesture of friendship.

After that, it’s a bit easier. Yukhei doesn’t search Donghyuck out, but Donghyuck starts taking the seat next to Yukhei whenever he has the chance. When Donghyuck’s listening to music, he offers the other earphone to Yukhei. When they have some downtime, Donghyuck crashes in Yukhei’s room or invites him over.

It gets to a point where it’s natural. Yukhei doesn’t stutter anymore when Donghyuck goes near him. He still feels his heartbeat speed up when Donghyuck smiles at only him, but they’re able to talk more. Yukhei realises he really enjoys Donghyuck’s company.

At the end of the Dream Concert, Yukhei finds himself gravitating towards Donghyuck. Donghyuck readily accepts his presence, shows him the goosebumps on his skin from looking at the crowd, takes his hand and pulls Yukhei into a bow.

In the middle of walking around with Donghyuck, Yukhei looks over at Donghyuck smiling and waving at the fans and thinks, _Why weren’t we like this sooner?_

 

 

During the car ride back to U's dorm after the Dream Concert, right as Yukhei is about to fall asleep, an epiphany strikes Yukhei.

Yukhei opens his eyes and sits upright. “I think I want to be together with Donghyuck.”

At once, four choruses of _Finally_ chime through the car. It had been a quiet ride, so Yukhei had thought everyone was asleep, but apparently not. Yukhei stops to think about whose voices those were. He definitely didn’t say ‘finally’—he doesn’t even know why they would say ‘finally’, anyway, this is new information—so that leaves Jungwoo, Kun, Ten and… their manager?

“Hyung!” Yukhei shouts. 

Their manager just laughs. “Sorry Yukhei,” he says, “but your crush really _was_ obvious.”

 

 

Knowing Yukhei has a crush on Donghyuck and actually doing something about it are two very different things. 

Yukhei’s still trying to decide whether he should even act on it. He and Donghyuck are finally getting along, and Yukhei doesn’t want to disturb that new, fragile balance.

In the end, it turns out that Yukhei didn’t need to do anything anyway.

He’s in his room, in the middle of messaging his friends in China, when Donghyuck storms into his room and shuts the door behind him. Yukhei immediately drops his phone. His friends will have to deal with his sudden silence.

“Are you going to ask me out?” Donghyuck demands when Yukhei looks at him. Yukhei makes a strangled sound. “Mark-hyung already told me about ‘Operation: Get Full Sun to be My Sun’ but now I’m wondering if he’s lying because you haven’t _done_ anything.”

Donghyuck had pulled a face when he said that operation name but that is not what’s on the forefront of Yukhei’s mind. “Mark _told_ you?”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “I pulled it out of him after you didn’t look at me for a week.” He pauses and grimaces. “Do you still like me?”

At this, Yukhei immediately gets up. “Yes!” Yukhei shouts, walking over to Donghyuck. Yukhei stands in front of Donghyuck and then doesn’t know what to do with his hands. “Of course, I like you. I just didn’t know if you liked me.”

“I’ve liked you ever since you got flustered when I smiled at you, stupid.”

Yukhei ignores the insult and grins down at Donghyuck. “What?” 

“You heard me,” Donghyuck says, and before Yukhei can even start teasing Donghyuck, Donghyuck leans up and presses a kiss to Yukhei’s lips.

It’s at that moment that Ten bursts into the room and yells, “Everyone come and look at this! It’s finally happened! Pay up!”

 

 

Later, after everyone leaves their room, Yukhei sits on his bed with Donghyuck curled on his chest. He’s back to messaging his friends, who all curse at Yukhei when he says he didn’t reply because he was busy getting a boyfriend. 

“I can’t believe they had a betting pool on us,” Donghyuck says, sounding bitter.

Yukhei shakes his head. Kun and Jungwoo had immediately run into the room after Ten’s outburst, took one look at Yukhei and Donghyuck and then groaned. Ten was grinning the entire time Kun and Jungwoo handed him ₩50,000 each. Yukhei had just finally finished replying to all the disgruntled members who had also lost the bet. His manager had messaged him too, _couldn’t you have waited a week, yukhei?_ “I can’t believe Ten was the only winner.”

Donghyuck groans in agreement. 

“At least ‘Operation: Get Full Sun to be My Sun’ was a success,” Yukhei offers. 

Donghyuck grimaces at the name, and this time Yukhei can’t ignore it. 

“What?”

“It really is a stupid operation name,” Donghyuck says. “I can’t believe you came up with it.”

“Why does no one appreciate it?” Yukhei whines. “It’s a good name!”

**Author's Note:**

> i started this nearly three months ago ha ha ha… what is consistent writing and finishing things within a decent time span anyway? at least i got some good rl hyuckhei moments to add into this (read: feeble but i am willing to take scraps)
> 
> i hope you enjoyed my nct fic debut! i made a [cc](https://curiouscat.me/thursday) if you want to chat!


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